The film Phone Booth, starring Colin Farrell has been knocking about HBO. I remember inadvertently seeing it on an airplane flight and being surprised at how enjoyable it was. The film’s stood up pretty well over a decade. In addition to Farrell, it also stars Kiefer Sutherland, Forrest Whitaker, Radha Mitchell, Katie Holmes, a bunch of quality character actors, and a somewhat forgotten seamy side of New York City. Joel Schumacher directs for a taught, tight 81 minutes.
Most notable might be that Phone Booth straddled a time when phone booths weren’t quite dead, cell phones weren’t quite dominant, and Manhattan hadn’t been completely scrubbed clean. Yet even though it captures a moment in time, the overall themes, and tension, are actually quite timeless. A nice little gem of a movie, that people will be watching for years to come.